The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-05-29

persons SO indicated Il en- and by many Of
us in the same way row. Again, the thumb
was thought to be endowed with fore knowl
edged and peculiar de gree of spiritual con
the eSclamaon of ole of the wierd sisters in
Macbeth:
BY the prickng ( my thumbs
Something wick, this way comes.
Other writers make use of similar ex.
preSsionS implying tlis endowment. How
fortunate that in this gross world of stern
TACT nowadays til, thumb should no longer
possess its ancient power, for we think the
prlcking might now be annoyingly fire.
quent! Once orr the great dramatist
shows knowledge o. the thumbs value in
another exclama' 10 of one of the Macbeth
witches. Know ng that upon the helm de-
ponds the safety of the ship and upon the
pilots hand depends the right guiding of the
hlem, and that his hand would be without
skill and power de lrived of the thumb, he
makes the rever ge I'll sister says:
Here have q pilots thumb,
Wrecked as Eom sward he did come.
The possession of that potent member would
give her the power of misleading and temp
est tossing the bark of the unfortunate
Master of tie Tiger" whose chestnut
munching wife had reused her anger by
saying "Aroint thse, witchn
The thumb is introduced into English
speech and life in many ways. The young
child sucks his thumb, little older he reads
of Hop o. my Thumb as a schoolboy
thumbs his books or as a girl thumbs over
a tune, and the workman too often does his
work merely by the rule of thumb. This
last expression is used to describe a practi-
cal rather than a scientific method. It has
often produced good results in the past,
wi Id Nv ta ali a
large experiences; but the demands of
modern manufactures and world wide COM
petition necessitate such niceness and ac-
curacy as are unattainable by the rule of
thumb. The origin of this expression is said
to be from the well known practice among
women and peddlers of reckoning the
thumbs breadth as one inch in measuring.
or course no great accuracy could attend
this method of computation, and so now we
apply the phrase jestingly to any rough and
ready way of doing u thing There was a
fine assurance of prevalent honesty about
the old practice, though it certainly laid
buyers too much at the mercy Of willy ped
dlers. In this connection we may mention
the dishonest practice of ''push thumb"
said TO have been done by dishonest heber-
dashers in measuring silks, etc, by which
the yard was short of the length of the
thumbs first joint, pushed in slSillful man
ner by the shopman when measuring by the
yardstick.
How essential to all manual operation is
the thumb--e. e., 10 hold the pen, to lift q
latch, to press a spring, to use the scales; in
short, to do hundred things the antidigit
is necessary.
Thumbs, too, are essential helps to or
atory. 1t was so in Quintilian's day for he
tells us of the various modes of employing
the fingers and thumb in oratorical de
livery Many a successful speaker or
noted orator i'll these days shows how much
he depends upon its aid during his addresses
by perpetually tapping il with the fore
no doubt the thumb gives out an unseen
stream of eloquence, electrical, perhaps, in
its nature, and of course all the more cal
culated to powerfully affect the audience !
Then how many of our platform speakers
have a habit of putting the thumbs into the
armholes of their vest, and thus presenting
a bold front to their auditory.
In time of persecution the poor thumb
has been made the vehicle for experiencing
torture by the use of ''thumbkins,n thumb
ieliins :" or the ''tnumbscrew This instrll-
ment for COMPRISING the thumbs was much
used by the Spanish inquisitors, and it was
also used occasionally in Britian--when TO
obtain confession or recantation-because
it caused exquisite pain without endanger-
ing the life OF the victim. Gen. Dalzell
brought thumbkins into use in torturing the
poor Scotch CoYenanters. The last recorded
instance of their application in the Old
World was in the case of Principal Carr
stairs, who in 1854 was effectually tortured
at the orders of the Scotch Privy Council
with the view of making him reveal the
secrets of the Argyle and Monmouth parties
The very pair of thumbscrews which crush
ed his thumb bones and caused his arms to
swell to the shoulders are still preserved
When Carstairs was introduced to King
William after the Revolution in 1888 the
monarch is reported to have inquired about
the thumbkins. II will some day show them
to you," said the principal He obtained
them from the new Privy Council of Scot
land. II must try them,n said the King
IT must put in my thumbs there
Now, principal. turn the screw. Oh, not
so gently; another turn; another. Stopl
stop No more; no morei Another turn,
1 am afraid, would make me confess any
thingn
The thumb is sine qua non to the
soldier 1t is in the art military that it as
sumes its greatest Importance. To escape
militry service it has been in all ages the
practice TO mutilate the hand by cutting off
the thumb In ancient Rome severe laws
were passed to prevent thumb mutilation
yet the practice had become so common in
the time of Theodosius that the word pol
troon, as a synonym for coward. came into
vogue. This word Is compounded Of police
trltnc1ts, mutilated in the thumb, and to-
day, in our own language, the word has a
place and the same meaning-coward. To
pull the trigger of musket to handle the
sword, ETC., the thumb is indispensable. To
thumbs, then, we may ascribe the most
glorious victories as well as the most desolat-
ing wars of oppression. True, then, it is
thumbs mako heroesn
The snuff taker finds the thumb very
useful, as Shakespeare shows when speak
ing of the fop of olden days Henry w., 1,
81:
Betwixt his finger and his thumb he held
pouncet box, which ever and anon
He gave his nose.
So thumbs have something to do with help
ing the revenue. Other more significant
gestures we might advert TO, but we close
by hoping this paper will be well thumbed
and by quoting Fielding's words, which,
though applied to the renowned Tommy
Thumb, the son of CATER Thumb, are APP
plicable TO the two jointed digit:
Say where's the mighty Thumb, our sword and
buckler?
Though 'gainst us men and giants league with
gods,
Yet Thumb alone is equal to more odds
A Rival to the Ocklawaha.
From the Fort Myers Press.
Last Saturday Col. II. l.. Hart and w. J.
Wabb of Palatka came down the CalOOga-